Page 71 of Toxic

“Exactly, you two looking for trouble will find twice as much, which means I’m going with you.”

We paused, looking at our president’s back as he kept walking.

“No shit?” Butcher asked, a grin stretching across his face.

I looked over at him and shrugged. “He’s so fucking pent up he’ll probably end up losing his shit and offing everyone before we even get the chance.”

The smile dropped off Butcher’s face. “Oh hell no. Prez! I’m calling dibs on killing the shitheads,” Butcher called out as he followed Lockout.

I looked over at Riptide, who was shaking his head. “Who’s idea was this?”

“He needs a break, Toxic,” Rip said with a shrug. “He might even need this more than you do.”

“Probably. If this is what he’s been dealing with for the last six months or more, no wonder he’s so tense all the time.” I didn’t bother to hide it. My brothers knew me well enough to know I was struggling with this. I wasn’t used to women giving me a challenge. At first it’d been kind of fun, but I’d never expected to get the cold shoulder. That hurt. And it was driving me nuts that I was failing to catch Billie’s attention.

Last night Billie had come out, dished up her plate of food, then apologized as she’d disappeared inside her room again. I scowled at the clubhouse door as I remembered it. Day by day it was getting worse. She was pulling further away from me. How was I supposed to make the woman fall in love with me if I couldn’t get her to come out of her room?

Short of planting myself in her bed, there was nothing I could do. I didn’t like it when shit didn’t go my way. So, I’d take a couple days to be a grumpy dick, take my frustrations out onsome CEO asshole, then come home and figure out a way to charm my old lady.

Grinning at that plan, I clapped a hand on Rip’s shoulder. “We shouldn’t be gone too long.”

Rip sighed. “Just make sure you stay under the radar. Last thing we need is for the three of you to end up in prison.”

I snorted in derision at that thought. “We’ve got it under control, Rip.”

One thing we knew how to do is get in, get the mission done, and get out without being detected. This was actually going to be fun. Having Lock along was just going to be a bonus. I followed my brothers out of the clubhouse. Rip would take care of everything while we were gone, and I knew Isla and whoever Rip assigned to Cholla Summit Ranch would make sure Billie was safe.

“You ready?” Lock asked, looking in the rearview mirror as I got in the back of the cage.

“Yeah. Let’s get going.”

“He didn’t let his woman know where he was going,” Butcher said after Lock pulled out onto the road.

I scowled at him. “When did you become a little narc?”

He chuckled. “Since you taught me how much fun it could be to spill other people’s secrets for them.”

“Fucker,” I muttered. He wasn’t supposed to be learning shit from me. I was the shit starter. He was the chaos maker. Those were our roles. Suddenly we were switching them. I was about to fuck up Brently’s entire world, Butcher was fucking with me, and Lock was along for the ride. Everything was out of whack. I wasn’t sure what that meant for the mission we were on.

“Why wouldn’t you let her know you’re going?” Lock asked, arching a brow and studying me in the mirror.

“She’s putting him on ice,” Butcher said, sounding amused.

“Keep it up,” I warned him. “I know a lot of shit about you that you don’t want other people knowing.”

Butcher turned in his seat, glaring at me, but when I held his gaze he grunted and turned back around.

“What does that mean?” Lock asked.

Butcher didn’t say anything else.

“She’s just playing hard to get,” I told Lock.

He chuckled. “I’d say I’m surprised your ego can handle that, but really you’re so damn easy going most of the time it's not that unusual.”

“Been a pissy fucker the last week,” Butcher muttered. He turned in his seat. “That’s not a secret, asshole. We’ve all noticed. He’s not used to going this long without getting his dick wet.”

“Yeah, sorry ‘bout that,” I told him. He wasn’t wrong. It wasn’t just about not getting laid though. It was more that Billie wasn’t interacting with me much at all. I wasn’t getting her smiles. Her laughs. Nothing. Not that I would turn down sex with her. But it wasn’t just that.

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